Fall into Darkness
by theflawintheplan
Summary: Almost seven years after Sasuke was spirited away, he finally returns to the delight of a certain dobe. NaruSasu. Character death, sequel to Best Friends Forever. Full summary inside. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Please don't flame me because I'll tell you right now that this is like the alternate universe in my other fic, but with Hokages and ninjas (I hope that's how you spell the plural, I forgot). Also, Naruto and Sasuke should get together in this one, so that's a clue that is YOAI or BOY/BOY. Otherwise, please enjoy and review. I think you can read this without reading the prequel, but I'm not sure.

**Summary: **Almost seven years after Sasuke was spirited away from Konoha, he finally returns to the delight of a certain dobe. But with bad housing arrangements, demanding jobs, determined suitors, a gap created by an unforgotten past, and a stalkerish brother, how can Naruto ever claim Sasuke as his own? Character death, sequel to Best Friends Forever.

**Disclaimer:** Never owned Naruto, never will.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Hey, mister," the young man blinked down at the girl who'd addressed him. Didn't she know that he had important things to take care of? However, as he watched her innocently hold out her hands, he realized she couldn't possibly know. '_She's still only a child,' _he mused, '_and who am I to tell her of the stresses of life?' _He dropped a few pieces of candy into the open hands.

The girl smiled gratefully at the man, closing her eyes in the process. The action reminded the man of someone else as he stared disbelievingly at her retreating figure. But no, she couldn't be related to him. He shook his head firmly and kept moving toward his destination.

?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?

"Lord Hokage, clients have dropped off more missions to sort out and everyone has gone home. When you go as well, don't worry about locking up, I'll do that after I finish up."

The Hokage sighed. When he became the village champion, he thought there would be more action than this. Instead, everyone was insanely protective of him. So he did the only thing he could to keep himself busy. "Give them to me."

The jounin blinked. "What?"

"You heard me. Give me the missions and I'll sort them. I've got nothing better to do."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, you go on home to be with your family."

The young man, who was the same age as Naruto, smiled. "Thanks, Naruto."

The man named Naruto grunted. "Your welcome Lee, but I was looking for something to do anyway." The other smiled pleasantly again.

"If there's anything I can do to help-"

"Go away!" Naruto yelled playfully. "Your family needs you more than I do." The shinobi grinned once more, but left. Naruto sighed again. If Lee knew who Naruto thought about every day or why he always felt lonely no matter how many friends surrounded him, he'd never leave him alone. And he couldn't be selfish with attention. He'd barely made a dent in sorting the requests before him when he heard a knock on the door. "Come on in," he mumbled. Who could that be? Did Lee decide to come back and help him after all? He put on a teasingly exasperated face and looked up.

"Lee, I thought I told-" He stopped mid sentence as he gazed up at the person's face. Or, rather, where their face should've been. The hood of their dark cloak was thrown up, hiding the head from view. Naruto knew from the aura that this was not Lee, or for that matter, any person in Konoha. Drawing up to his full height-he was the village's protector after all-he addressed the mysterious visitor.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Take off the hood and state your name and business!" The figure didn't do anything. Naruto bristled. "I gave you an order. Now speak!" With shaking fingers, the person took off their hood, showing their enraged face.

"Naruto?"

"Sasuke?" Naruto gasped. He couldn't remember going out the door or even standing up for that matter, but the next thing he knew, he was running down the surprisingly congested street, trying to catch up to his former friend. He cut through the crowd, ignoring all the greetings and strange looks he received and went into a deserted alleyway. Didn't Sasuke go this way? As soon as he could hear his own footsteps he stopped running and looked around.

'_Damn,'_ Sasuke thought. Why couldn't Naruto just leave him alone? He held down an actual whimper and didn't move simply because…he was afraid. Not afraid of the other _physically,_ but he made Sasuke feel something he hadn't in a long time: vulnerability. He had always felt something around the blonde, especially when he-no. Sasuke refused to go there again.

"Sasuke, please don't hide from me." The raven was surprised to open his eyes to saddened blue orbs. Last time he looked into those eyes they held such hatred….

"Sasuke, please." The man pleaded. He turned to his addresse, much to the latter's shock. He bolted from the shadows with the Hokage hot on his heels. "Just go away, Naruto!" Sasuke shouted. He looked over his shoulder for just a second and felt instant pain in his skull. Naruto's eyes widened considerably and he caught Sasuke as he fell into darkness.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

A/N: Short chapter I know and I know I shouldn't write a second author's note, but I felt the need to signify the end of the first chapter. The next chapter should be up soon if this is a perfect world. Review and let me know how I did or ask me to explain something you didn't quite understand.

So long adoring fans! (Che, right….)

~theflawintheplan


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Quick note, this is obviously the sequel to Best Friends Forever. You might have to read that first, but if you get confused by this story, feel free to check it out.

"Talking"

_'Thoughts'_

_**Dreams**_

_**Flashbacks**_

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Numbness...darkness...pain...voices...light...where was he?

As he slowly opened his eyes, Sasuke took in the bright, white walls and the even brighter white light shining right into his eyes. Sasuke mentally groaned-as his mouth did not quite seem to be working properly at the moment-and shut his eyes tightly. What had happened? He remembered going to the Hokage tower, seeing Naruto..._Naruto_. Even thinking the name made Sasuke's mouth go dry and silently shake with rage. If the blonde really wanted make things better now, he should know that his "good intentions" would be better served if he left Sasuke alone. The Uchiha did not want to talk to him at the present time. In fact, he was not sure he wanted to talk to Uzumaki ever again.

The hospital door opened and Sasuke changed his feature to a sleeping expression and listened in on the conversation beside him. He didn't think of it as eavesdropping, he thought of it as...gathering information.

"So...is he okay?" The first voice was Naruto. It was surprising that Sasuke could still place the voice after all those years away from Konoha.

"Yes, he'll be fine, but I still want him to stay here. If he leaves, he'll be more inclined to get up and walk around. He needs bedrest."

"May I...take him with me? I'll make he stays in bed." A pause. Sasuke guessed the doctor was considering this. "Please. He's been gone for seven years. Can you blame me for wanting my old friend near me?" Sasuke held down a snort. _He _certainly no longer considered them friends. "And he's been with his _S-ranked criminal_ of a brother during that time. Think of it as a precaution."

Sasuke was so close to sitting up and punching Naruto, he could feel his hand twitching. The doctor made the urge worse.

"Alright Lord Hokage. I suppose you could take him with you. Don't let him the house though, not for a few days."

"Thank you." Naruto said with relief.

"Anytime, Naruto." Sasuke bristled as he finally figured out the owner of the second voice. _Sakura_. The two people he _absolutely adored _in the same room as him and he couldn't escape. Well, _this_ was the best reunion Sasuke had ever had.

Suddenly a hand-and then another-made it's way under his head and back, lifting him up gently.

The next thing he knew he was being shifted carefully as Naruto searched for the key for to his house. The blond man opened the door, set Sasuke on the couch and watched as the raven boy gradually fell asleep.

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

The lump on the couch stirred. _I better fix him something to eat. He might be hungry._ When Naruto came back from the kitchen, he saw Sasuke already awake and sitting up, a hand pressed his forehead.

"Good mor-" The greeting died in his throat as he finally noticed the look Sasuke was giving him. "Come on Sasuke, you're not still mad at me, are you?" The glare did not recede, so Naruto cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'm glad to see you're awake. You hit your head pretty hard, so I was...starting...to...to worry...Sasuke? Where are you going?" While the Hokage was talking, the other man had obviously gotten it in his head that he wanted to walk away! "Hey! Uchiha, I'm talking to y-" The raven turned his back to the front door so he could face the blond idiot, the famous Uchiha glare turned on full blast.

"Let's get this straight. I may not have left Konoha _willing_, but I never came running back, did I? In fact, had I know _you_ were Hokage, I'd never have set up a meeting with you about dropping the charges against Itachi."

"Your brother? But didn't he-"

"Kidnap me? Not really...that was...oh, never mind! You wouldn't understand anyway!"

"Well maybe if you just talked to me-"

"So _now_ you want to talk? Where was that little decision _seven years ago_?" Naruto could feel his rage bubbling up rapidly.

"Listen Uchiha, I didn't know you woud turn into a guy when I was first talking to you. If I had, I would've never-" A slam cut off his rant. _'Great Naruto,'_ he scolded himself. _Just great. He knows you love him now! That much was obvious in all your shouting at him.'_ He scowled at the closed door, thinking. Sasuke would come back eventually. And when he is, Naruto would have a plan ready to make Sasuke his _and_ keep him bed-ridden for the next few days.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

A/N: I know it's short, but the next two chapters are supposed to be dedicated to the past of these two, leading to the fight that just occured. Sorry, but review and let me know what you think about where it is at the moment or something. Please!

~theflawintheplan


	3. Chapter 3

It was a couple of days after Naruto called Sasuke a faggot. Sasuke lounged on the couch, his "mother"-just back from a mission-was fixing herself a sandwich.

"Mom," Sasuke vaguely wondered if, somewhere, his real mother was hurting because of that simple word he uttered. "Why was the jutsu that was placed on me so weak? If it came undone just by me saying I was Sasuke-"

"It's a bit more complicated than that. You have to have someone who used to know you-someone you were extremely close to-to unlock those memories, and ultimately your identity. You need to be around that person all the time. But see, why I thought you'd never 'come back' is because we only use those kinds of jutsus on people who have been traumatised and everyone close to them were murdered. Kakashi and I never knew you were friends with that Uzumaki kid. If we had, we would have never taken the nine out of ten risk of damage to your brain from the trauma. There would have been no need if you had someone who cared about you close by."

Sasuke sat up. "Mom, Naruto and I _aren't_ friends anymore. He took one look at me and ran for it. He thought that I hid the truth from him and he hates me now."

Anko stepped into the room to put an arm around her dau-_son_-and swallowed half of the bite in her mouth before answering. "Sweetheart, maybe he's just embarassed and frightened. Maybe you should just show him what he's missing out on." Sasuke prentended not to know what she meant by the wink she sent him.

"Or maybe I should just stay away from him. I mean, why would he want to be friends with a faggot?"

The attractive green-eyed woman was taken aback. "Did he call you that?" At her baby's nod, she sighed. "Well, that just means we have to beat him up." Sasuke let out a short, shocked laugh.

"Even if I wanted you to, you know you can't do that! There are severe consequences to hurting a child!"

"I didn't say I'd make a show of it. No one has to know...." She laughed at her son's face. "I'm only kidding! Jeez, do I honestly look like that kind of person?"

She ignored the muttered, "Yes," and told him to put some tea on, please and thank you.

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

His forced smile immediately dropped.

"Why hello, foolish little brother."

"I-Itachi?" He had instantly reconised the cold black eyes staring back at him. So different, yet so much like his own....When the older of two turned on the Sharingan and reached for the younger, Sasuke jumped back, knocking into the small coffee table. He twisted so that he fell on the couch.

"N-no," he whispered as his brother lifted him up. There was no one to cry out to as Itachi's hand collided with the back of his neck, sending him into darkness.

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

"Now why do you look at me that way? Do you honestly hate me that much? Up until a few days ago, you had forgotten I even existed." At Sasuke's startled look, Itachi smirked. "I've been watching you, Sasuke. I wouldn't call it _stalking_, but I haven't exactly been leaving you alone. And I must say that you were getting too close to that blond dobe for comfort."

Sasuke's quizzical expression turned back into a murderous one. If tape was not covering his mouth right now....

As if reading his mind, Itachi answered Sasuke's subconscious question: "I brought you here to listen to what I have to say."

The tension in the room could be cut with a kunai. "I know you think I'm evil and that I have no heart, but you have to believe me when I say that I didn't want to it. I never wanted to kill our family...never wanted to hurt _you_. I'd tell you the whole story, but that would only shift your anger to another person and that isn't very efficient." Sasuke snorted in disbelief.

"Sasuke, it's true. I love you." Both brothers flushed at the words. Itachi regarded the tape on Sasuke's mouth as if just seeing it for the first time.

He looked up and for a moment, crimson eyes met black ones. "If I remove that, you're not going to scream, are you? We're not anywhere close to where someone could hear you, but I don't want to have a headache from all the noise."

His younger brother nodded wearily and Itachi removed the tape.

Sasuke sighed. "I'm trusting you Itachi, so don't screw it up." Itachi made a noise that implied he was not going to screw it up, and Sasuke could tell the older of the two was happy Sasuke decided to believe him now.

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

Itachi was relaxing on the couch in the house he had Sasuke shared, waiting for his brother to come home.

When Sasuke finally came through the front door, Itachi smiled softly as he flipped to the next page in his book. His younger sibling had taken to staying away for long periods of time and Itachi was afraid that this time Sasuke would disappear all together.

Luckily, his brother did not feel like abandoning him today.

"I'm going to Konoha." Sasuke stated decisively. Itachi jumped up, all of his earlier confidence gone.

"What do you mean, 'You're going to Konoha?' "

"I mean I'm going back. It's our home Itachi. I can't just stay away for the rest of my life."

"We do just fine without that stupid place. Why the sudden change?"

His older brother sounded so much like a little child (he even had a tiny pout!) that Sasuke had to pause to hold in a grin. However, once he calmed down, he was all business again. "Itachi, this isn't sudden. Taking a break from Naruto's obvious attempts at avoiding me were nice for a few years, but now I think it's time to go back."

Itachi frowned. He remembered Sasuke would tell him about this "Naruto"-the blond he saw trying to cuddle up to female Sasuke-and quite frankly did not like him anymore than he had. In fact, the older Uchiha hated the boy even more. "I don't understand Sasuke. If that _boy_," he made sure the simple word sounded like an insult, "is still in the village, doesn't that make it even more unappealing? It does to me."

Sasuke huffed. "It's where we were born, Itachi. Leaving it forever is like leaving behind a piece of who you are." Words he stole from his "mother", but true nonetheless.

His brother remained unconvinced. "They wouldn't let us in anyway because, in case you've forgotten, I'm an S-ranked criminal."

The smaller raven frowned in a way that was not unlike his brother. "I haven't forgotten. I'm going to talk to the Hokage to see if I can explain it to her and get your charges dropped."

"She wouldn't believe a word you say about me."

"We'll see," Sasuke said as he walked back through the door, toward the place where he grew up. Soon enough he was out of sight, leaving the brother with more ninja experience to wonder just how well this plan would work.

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

Sasuke stood on the opposite side of the door that led to the Hokage's office. In a moment he would be pleading his brother's case and praying to whoever was up there that Tsunade would listen to what he had to say.

Taking a deep breath, knowing his brother and his own happiness was on the line, Sasuke knocked on the door.

"Come on in...."

He was hesitant at how the voice sounded a little masculine, but he chalked it up to the wood garbling the sound. Breathing in once more, he silenly let it out before turning the knob and slowly opening the door.

He could not believe who was sitting at the Hokage's desk, hairline-deep in paperwork.

"Lee, I thought I told-" the other male stopped when he looked up and Sasuke was glad he had chosen to wear a long cloak with a hood that covered his face. Uzumaki Naruto, the one person Sasuke hoped not to run into, drew himself up and puffed out his chest.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Take off the hood and state your name and business!" Sasuke wanted to rant and rave at the man before him, but he found that he was so angry, he could not do a thing.

Naruto bristled. "I gave you an order. Now speak!"

An _order_? Sasuke felt his rage rising against his better judgement. This man thought he could _order_ him around? His entire body shook as he yanked off the hood to show his outraged expression.

"Naruto?"

The other at least had the decency to look surprised. "Sasuke?"

Sasuke couldn't help himself. He ran.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

A/N: Hooray for actually finishing this! I thank **jesi ki kage**, **SailorDemyx49**, **Ibbited**, and **spiralgirl** for reviewing. You all helped so much in breaking my major writer's block! XD I know I already answered your reviews, but since there were only four of you and you were my first reviewers, I thought I could treat you guys to a public recognition and answer.

**jesi ki kage**: I really appreciate the nice review and as for your question, you'll just have to stay tuned for the drama that ensues! :D

**SailorDemyx49**: Thank you! And I can honestly say that NaruSasu will happen, it will just take some time...a lot of time....^_^"

**Ibbited**: That was amazing! You helped A LOT with the writer's block disppearing because that rant really motivated me! XD And the reason I only had two chapters up is because I wrote those before the writer's block came into play and I figured the readers would help me get the rest done! Thanks for not proving me wrong!

**spiralgal**: As soon as I saw your username, I thought: _No way! She's back! XD_ I'm glad to see you gave the sequel a chance even though I made Naruto such a jerk in the first story. The good news is that the Uchiha brothers take that role, so they should be a bit more in character.... : )

Naruto's past is next and I hope you all stay tuned. Can't wait to hear from you all! **I'm shooting for fifteen reviews for these two chapters.**

A bien tot!

~theflawintheplan


	4. Chapter 4

"Sasuke's been kidnapped!"

Naruto could not believe his own ears. Sasuke gone? No, that could not be right. Kidnappings just did not happen to the people you knew. He regarded Kiba with suspicious eyes.

"You can't get me to apologise to him. It's too embarrassing. I called him a fag!"

"What?" Kiba asked in incredulity, momentarily forgetting why he was there. He knew that Megumi had turned into Sasuke, and that that event had caused the end of the...relationship...the two had had, but he did not know the entire story.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "I called him a fag." This time the confession was softer, as if Naruto thought the lack of volume might snatch the insult back from the air and everyone, especially Sasuke, would forget it ever happened.

"Well, I got that part of the story, but why would you do that? The only time I heard you talk about Sasuke would be when there were positive things to say. Now you're telling me that you called your childhood friend _gay_?"

Naruto glared defensively. "I didn't mean to, it just sort of slipped out. I mean, I liked Megumi a lot. We both know this." Kiba nodded in agreement and the blond continued. "And when she turned into Sasuke, I still had feelings for 'her'. In fact, they had only increased. I was confused and so I decided to blame her...him..._whoever_ for making me feel like a faggot."

Kiba shook his head and Naruto huffed despite himself.

"So _you_ felt gay...and you decided to call _Sasuke _gay?" The brown-haired boy asked slowly, not really understanding his friend's logic. Before Naruto could answer though, Kiba shook his head again, this time to clear his head of the recent exchange. "Look, Sasuke's been kidnapped. Are we going to do anything or not?"

Kiba's expectant look caused Naruto to deflate and he wearily dropped into his couch.

"There's nothing we can do, Kiba."

"What are you talking about, Naruto? We can look for him! We can-"

"And what do we do when we find him? Kakashi told me what Itachi's capable of. There's no way we can beat him if he's got a hold of Sasuke."

Kiba hesitated. To tell the truth, while they were extremely good ninja, better than excellent, neither were the best when it came to ninjutsu. Certainly not good enough to face off against the older Uchiha brother, even with the two to one odds. He sat down heavily next to his surprisingly quiet friend and sighed. "Naruto, we can't just sit here and do nothing. You already told me how you felt when Sasuke disappeared the first time around. You're really going to let him disappear again?"

Naruto exhaled and fixed Kiba with saddened eyes. "He hates me anyway. Why bother?"

Kiba narrowed his eyes, a reaction the blond was not quite expecting. "Naruto, I can't believe you! You're always telling me you want to be Hokage, but you don't want to save your _friend_ because you _think_ he hates you?"

Naruto could not back down. If he found Sasuke...well, there was no way he would win against Itachi. "I just...I'm scared. What if he doesn't accept my help?"

Kiba smiled softly, putting his arm around his friend's shoulders. "Naruto, it's time to live by your own words-the same ones you constantly tell people who are in the same situation you are right now. Don't you see? It doesn't matter that Sasuke may still be angry at your words. What matters is that he's in trouble. He needs you, Naruto. Are you just going to mope around here, waiting in fear, or are you going to do something to save Sasuke's life?"

Naruto gradually returned the smile.

"Where are we going to look for him first?"

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

It was officially four months after Sasuke's disappearance and Naruto spiraled deeper into depression.

_"Faggot!"_

Why had he said that and then had avoided the raven like he could not stand the sight of him? Nothing could have been further from the truth...!

Naruto no longer gazed into mirrors, knowing he would be disgusted with the boy in the reflection.

_"Sasuke's been kidnapped!"_

It was his fault. Naruto was not exactly sure yet how he was responsible, but he knew he was somehow. _'And now I can't even find him. How incompetent am I?'_ His depression crushed him....

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

Days became weeks, weeks turned into months and soon three years had gone by. Naruto watched as his new friend Hinata became engaged to Neji. He _was_ happy for them, and no, he _wasn't_ thinking about Sasuke. He did not want the others to worry about him, but he needed to know Sasuke's whereabouts. If he could only know the Uchiha was still alive....After all, when three years go by without a trace of the missing person, Konoha considers that person to be...Naruto did not want to even think about accepting that truth. There had to be another; if only he could find it!

"Naruto!"

The addressed blond turned to find his ex-girlfriend, Sakura Haruno, running toward him. Confused, he masked this feeling with a welcoming, albeit forced, smile.

"Well, hi Sakura!" He grinned and placed a hand behind his head.

"Look!" She cried, holding up her left hand to his eye level.

"Huh?" Naruto's arm came away from the back of his head in surprise. His startled gaze fell to Sakura's ring finger where a huge diamond smiled up at him.

"Lee proposed!" She chirped, wriggled her fingers in Naruto's face. The blond's heart dropped into his sandals as he realised he was the only one of his friends who remained single (with the exception of Kiba, who was still trying to win Gaara back). Seeing her blond's sorrow, Sakura tried to put a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder, but the ring weighed down on his body and only reminded him of his loneliness.

"Oh Naruto," she sighed. "It'll be alright. You'll find Sasuke alive, well, and wanting to come home and be your wife."

Naruto blushed, but pushed Sakura's hand away and forced another smile so the pink-haired woman would not worry about him so much. Though, all that afternoon and the rest of that night he poured over her words.

_'Oh Sakura, if only it were that simple.'_

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

Naruto finished his acceptance speech when he became Hokage, puncuating the end of it with a cheer and a fist in the air. The crowd erupted, crying loudly for their newly named village champion.

Looking around, Naruto was not that surprised that everyone had fallen for his splendid acting. Everyone except for Sakura, and it had not been long for her husband of four years to pick up on her suspicions. Now they were both standing behind him on the balcony in the Hokage's tower, and the three exchanged looks.

They all knew who Naruto wished was in the crowd at that very moment, looking up at him with the same happiness the new Hokage should have been feeling.

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

When Naruto came back from the kitchen, he saw Sasuke already awake and sitting up, a hand pressed to his forehead.

"Good mor-" the greeting died in his throat as he finally noticed the look Sasuke was giving him. "Come on Sasuke, you're not still mad at me, are you?" The glare did not recede, so Naruto cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'm glad to see you're awake. You hit your head pretty hard, so I was...starting...to...to...worry...Sasuke? Where are you going?" While the Hokage was talking, the other man had obviously gotten it into his head that he wanted to walk away! "Hey Uchiha, I'm talking to you-" The raven turned his back to the front door so he could face the blond idiot, the famous Uchiha glare turned on full blast.

"Let's get this straight. I may not have left Konoha _willingly_, but I never came back, did I? In fact, had I known you were Hokage, I'd have never set up a meeting with you about dropping the charges against Itachi."

"Your brother? But didn't he-"

"Kidnap me? Not really...that was...oh, never mind! You wouldn't understand anyway!"

"Well maybe if you just talked to me-"

"Oh, so _now_ you want to talk? Where was that little decision _seven years ago_?!" Naruto could feel his rage bubbling up rapidly.

"Listen Uchiha, I didn't know you would turn into a guy when I first starting talking to you. If I had, I would've never-" A door slam cut off his rant.

_'I would have never freaked out the way I did....'_

But Sasuke was gone, and if Naruto ever wanted to make him his, he needed to come up with a plan by the time Sasuke came back (because he _would_ come back). One that would not only make the Uchiha fall madly in love with him, but would also keep him bedridden until the raven had completely healed.

He had a lot of work ahead of him.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

A/N: Oh, Naruto has no idea. Anyway, what do you guys think his plan's going to be? _**Review and let me know!**_ XD

Now then, the past to present chapters are done and you've had a glimpse into what happened before the actual sequel took place. The rest of the chapter should be Fall into Darkness! Yay, I'm so excited! **Let me know how I did and I promise, the fifth chapter will get out to you sooner than if you don't.**

And that's where I'll leave you for now. Please review!

A demain!

~theflawintheplan


	5. Chapter 5

Sasuke returned around five in the afternoon. He glanced at the blond lounging on the couch before reluctantly stepping further inside. "Neji claimed he 'didn't have room' at his house, and Gaara said he was too busy to keep me at his place, so I guess I'm stuck with you." He finished with a grimace.

Naruto grinned triumph. "Well, I'm happy to take you in." He jumped off the couch and ran over to the front door, grabbing Sasuke's hand and pulling him past the piece of furniture Naruto was just laying on, into the blond's bedroom. "What you need now though is bed rest. I hope I can somehow make your stay here more comfortable...."

"You can start by finding me another place to stay." Sasuke grumbled.

Naruto smiled sadly, but chose not to address his companion's statement. After he got his childhood friend re-settled, Naruto stretched and yawned tiredly. "Well, I'm going back to the couch now. I have to get rest also if I'm going to go work-"

"I'm too tired to care, Naruto." Sasuke curtly interrupted. He turned to the opposite wall, clearly telling Naruto to shove off. The blond frowned and thought, _'Getting him to like me again is going to be harder than I originally thought....'_

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

Sasuke awoke the next day to the sound of crashes and bangs.

_'What's going on? Naruto....'_

Getting up to investigate, the raven went down the hall to the kitchen and found it hard not to gape. Pots and pans were strewn over the table and counters, flour coated almost everything in the entire room, broken eggs created a floor that warned away bare feet. Looking up, Sasuke somehow was not surprised to see Naruto flopping around the small room, gazing at the Uchiha helplessly as he tried to put out the tiny grease fire his ramen had produced...with a fan.

The raven man sighed and cautiously stepped inside. He grabbed one of the various pans, filled it with water from the nearby sink, and poured the liquid into the stove top. The stove sputtered and died a dramatic death. He then went on to wipe down the the entire kitchen, throw away the egg shells, put away the clean pots and pans, and handed Naruto the blond's wallet so he could buy some breakfast from a ramen vender. As he turned to leave he calmly stated, "You should have someone to fix that stove."

And he was gone, leaving Naruto to silently gape at the swiftness of the other's work.

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

"Tsunade-sama!" Naruto shouted, bursting through the door. He technically had the real power, but he still answered to this woman since she was named Hokage before him and the fact that she was convinced he had not changed a bit since she had first met him. He could show her he was mature though, he was just needed to show her he was responsible.

"Naruto, showing up late after being summoned is _not_ responsible." Tsunade, glaring down her nose at the young man. Naruto gaped at her. Did he just say that out loud?

"Yes you did," she affirmed, raising a stern brow. The young man she addressed sheepishly took a seat, but it was not long before the look was replaced with a more confused expression.

"Why did you summon me, baa-chan?"

Her eye twitched at the name, but she refused to otherwise acknowledge it. "I realise that you're the Hokage now and that another ninja should take your place in this mission, but you're honestly the only one who has the personality and determination to pull this off."

"Well, what I have to do?"

"You're to go uncover in the Iwa village. They are rumoured to have child trafficking and I want to know what exactly what exactly is going on." Naruto wanted to know why _he _was being sent over there. They had ninja to police them and besides that, they were a completely different village. One that Konohagakure had no jurisdiction over. When he was younger, he would not have hesitated to go in there and stop whatever is going on. However, as he matured, he realised that sometimes a person could not just burst into another village everytime they went against the first's morals.

"Forgive me, Tsunade-sama, but what are we doing over there? We have no legal say over what the Iwa villagers can and can't do. Can't they just send in their ninja to investigate?"

Tsunade peered over her desk at Naruto in surprise. "I thought you would be the first to jump up and investigate plausible child abuse."

Naruto's shoulders slumped. "You can't just rush into someone's village unannounced, look into their problems, and then arrest their people without proper permission first." He mumbled.

Tsunade regarded the man with pitying eyes. "We aren't going in there completely unannounced. We were actually told about this by an Iwa citizen who tried to tell his ninja about it, but...well, he can tell you himself." A still perfectly smooth hand gestured toward the side of the room. Naruto looked over to his surprise, found another, older, man leaning against the wall Tsunade had pointed to.

He had thinning gray hair that was pulled back into a long ponytail and beady black eyes seemed to calculate even the slightest move Naruto made. His eyes crinkled at the corners, but they did not remind the young Hokage of a man who had good times, only a man who wanted to rest and shake off his weariness.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama." He nodded to both of them before he continued. "I'm Shimizu Tamotsu. I come from Iwa village, where things have been going from good to terrible." He had a somewhat arrogant tone to his words, but Naruto could could not bring himself to tune out the man's plea. When it involved children...the blond man shuddered and tried not to think about what those kids were being subjected to. "Normally I'd like my own village's government to handle their own affairs, but everyone has been getting more corrupt as the years pass and the crime rate just keeps climbing."

Naruto's brows furrowed. "Not to interrupt, but what exactly is going on inside Iwa? Is it just child trafficking or is it something more?"

Tamotsu looked affronted at being interrupted, but he nevertheless answered. "It's mainly the trafficking, but they feed the kids a type of drug that keeps them silent about it all. Otherwise the citizens would have done something a long time ago. If they could." The last sentence was angrily muttered, but Naruto still caught the quiet words.

"If they could? What do you mean?"

If anything, the quiry seemed to make the balding man even more enraged. "Those bastards," he spat. "They bought off our ninja with the children. And if, by some miracle, one of the citizens from my great village finds out about what's going on, the leaders of this underground business threatens them into keeping silent!"

Naruto thought he heard Tamotsu mumble something about "cowards" and "poor children," but before he could ask him about it, Tsunade cut him off.

"You will be going undercover in a few days. That gives you plenty of time to get the situation with Uchiha Sasuke under control. You're dismissed."

And just like that, Naruto saw his chance at getting Sasuke to like him again go up in flames. Instead, he found himself walking away from the Hokage's tower, trying to figure out he was going to pull this off. He had not walked long at all before he discovered a very welcome face walking toward him.

"Hey Sakura," he called jovially. Sakura, now recognising him, waved back, a grin spreading across her own face.

"Naruto, how are you?" She breathed when she reached him. He grimaced despite himself and the happiness slid from the pink-haired woman's expression, resembling water washing away a painting's beautiful colours.

"What's wrong?"

Naruto sighed. "I need to tell you something. Something no one else, not even Lee, can know." He scuntinised her face for any sign that she would tell her husband about this. He found nothing, not that he had expected to. He sighed again, this time with relief more than anything else.

"Take a walk with me?" Naruto wanted this discussion to be as private as possible.

Sakura shook her head to rid herself as her worried thoughts. She needed to be as tuned into Naruto as she could be. "Of course."

The blond grinned half-heartedly as they both fell into the other, heading for the nearby forest path. "Well, it all started this morning...."

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

Naruto was glad he chose Sakura to confide the mission in. He wanted a medical nin who could care for Sasuke while keeping the blond Hokage's whereabouts a secret. Although, after parting ways with the woman and coming face to face with a particularly enraged Sasuke, Naruto had to reconsider his decision in choosing the one person the Uchiha hated more than the blond himself.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

A/N: Itachi comes into play in the next chapter, and Naruto begins to his mission. Wish me luck!

No preview for this one, but hopefully one for the next chapter. Please review and the next chapter will be up as soon as possible!

Adios!

~theflawintheplan


	6. Chapter 6

It had been three days since Sasuke had seen Naruto and Sakura together and the Uchiha was still keeping his distance from the blond. He made sure they were always on opposite sides of the house when they were sitting down to rest or sleeping; if Naruto tried to talk to Sasuke, the raven would immediately walk away to find something else to do. He even ate his meals in the Hokage's bed. The blond would not have minded the last bit if it was solely for the bed rest-Sasuke needed his rest-but the Uchiha only did it to spite and avoid Naruto. The young champion of Konoha wandered through the village, absent-mindedly greeting the citizens as he mentally went through everything he needed for his new mission. He needed to keep his mind on other things rather than completely on Sasuke the entire day.

Kunai?

_Check._

Shuriken?

_Check._

Various other weapons he needed in case he was unable to use the aforementioned tools? His hand quickly brushed into his pouch one last time and he murmured a hello to a random greeter as his fingers lightly touched slightly less familiar blades.

_Check._

At that moment, a commotion arose and Naruto wondered what was going on. It was not often the villagers wanted to rile each other up. Who could have come into the village without his knowledge...? He kept his hand on the cool metal of a kunai as he closed the two-hundred-yard gap between him and the unruly uprising. Naruto was immediately set at unease when he saw a large mob gathered. He had been expecting some fighters, and perhaps even a few spectators and encouragers, but it seemed as if the entire population of Konoha created a menacing circle around some poor person... However, the thing that shocked him the most was the person they surrounded.

Uchiha Itachi.

As if hearing his thoughts-or maybe Naruto was just thinking out loud again?-the elder of the two Uchiha brothers snapped his gaze toward the blond. The village residents followed the criminal's dark orbs and beheld their beloved leader.

"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!" One of the residents, a woman known throughout Konohagakure as someone who liked to start trouble, called to him. "He's invaded our peaceful Fire village and for that he must be put to death!"

Naruto gaped at his citizens, finally looking back into Itachi's glaring eyes. He wondered why Itachi was brave enough to come back to the village after all these years-especially after kidnapping Sasuke those seven years before. However, he remembered how Sasuke had seemed so devoted to Itachi's pardon, and so he continued to stare at his crush's brother, analysing the older man's dark eyes for anything remotely malicious. The Konoha residents began to shift their weight, anxiously waiting for their leader to attack Itachi. Naruto still did not know whether the oldest of the last two Uchihas could be trusted so, regardless of the hateful people of Konoha, his decision was soon made.

"I wish to give Uchiha Itachi a chance to speak on his own behalf before either the people or myself make any judgements or form any opinions." He had expected surprise, but the blond sweatdropped as even Itachi looked at him through shocked onyx orbs. Even the accused ninja had not thought he was going to be given a chance...?

Itachi was grateful, albeit a little surprised, that Uzumaki let him have an opportunity to explain his actions. After all, it would have taken too much time and attention to kill the entire Konoha population in the event of them attacking him. However, he suddenly remembered the woman calling the idiot "Hokage-sama." Sasuke had gone to see the Hokage about getting Itachi a full pardon, had he not? The black eyes narrowed at the blond in suspicion. As Sasuke's brother, it was his mission to protect the younger raven from anyone who even remotely appeared to have ulterior motives.

And the Uzumaki stank of ulterior motives.

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

Sasuke laid down on Naruto's bed, watching as Sakura rushed around the moderately sized room. She fussed over his pillows and made sure he was decently covered-"We don't want you to catch a cold as well, after all." The Uchiha rolled his eyes. Honestly, this woman had ulterior motives if she was trying to feign friendship in order gain the raven's trust. The question was, what were her real reasons? Until he found out what she truly wanted out of Sasuke, he would treat her with clipped and distant responses.

"Are you hungry at all, Sasuke?"

"Not really."

"Can I get you anything to drink or something like that?"

"I'm fine."

"I thought you told me that you were thirsty a while ago."

"I'll get it myself later on."

"It's fine, Sasuke. I mean, I'm here to hel-"

"I'll get it myself."

"Really, it's no problem at all. Naruto wanted me here so I could-"

"I believe I said I'll get it myself, _Sakura_." Sasuke hissed forcefully through gritted teeth. "So thanks, but no thanks." Sasuke directed his glare toward the ceiling. The woman with pink hair stopped bustling around the bedroom long enough to fix the male with a stern look.

"I'm just trying to be nice. I want to be your fri-"

"Well, I have no interest in being yours. And you can tell your boyfriend Naruto that the same goes for him as well."

Sakura's expression turned into one of incredulity. "He's not my boyfriend, Sasuke! Nor do I have any more intentions of him becoming so. In case you have yet to realise, that ship left the harbour long ago."

Sasuke let out a short laugh. "It wouldn't surprise me if that were true and you two were still sneaking around with each other. There is such a concept as 'Friends with Benefits.' "

The poor woman huffed angrily in the face of Sasuke's opinions of her. "I'm married, Sasuke. Do you understand-"

"Still wouldn't surprise me." The young man cut in lazily. He brought up a hand to pluck an invisible speck of dust from the air and examined it casually before letting his hand fall back to its original position. Sakura closed her mouth in shocked and mounting rage. If she had doubted it earlier, she could definitely see now how the raven used to be the white-haired, golden-eyed teenager who had hated Naruto's former girlfriend. Sakura did not blame "Megumi" for her feelings toward the girl with neon tresses at the time, but there was really no reason to hate the woman at the present moment.

"I don't know why you hate me so much, Sasuke. I'm just trying to be friendly." Sasuke made no attempt to muffle his scoff.

"Like I said before Sakura, I really don't want you or Naruto to be my friend. I didn't ask for you to thrust yourselves back into my life. I was happy without the two of you, so I'm sure I'll be fine when you continue to stay the hell away from me." Sasuke, still gazing intensely at the ceiling, did not see Sakura sigh and throw her arms in the air in utter exasperation.

"Look Sasuke, you'll only have to put up with me until Naruto gets back."

"Why would that statement help me in any way?"

"_Because_," Sakura ground out, desperately trying to retain her friendliness, "you'll only have to deal with him after that. You can forget all about me helping you. Hell, you can forget I even existed after Naruto returns home." At this point, Sakura was willing to say anything to the raven if it meant he would at least try being somewhat civil to her while she stayed there. His eyes looked at the fan above them in thought and Sakura's hopes lifted. Perhaps he would start now...?

"Hmm...tempting, but I'll have to pass on putting up with you. Making you angry is just too much fun!" He finally dragged his eyes away from the ceiling long enough to send her a seemingly innocent smile.

Sakura's eye twitched in frustration.

"It's only until Naruto comes back!" She shouted, leaving the room. Before she slammed the door, she heard Sasuke mumble something that made her teeth grind.

"If I even stay here that long."

~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~?~

"So the Uchiha massacre wasn't some sadistic attempt to benefit yourself with more power. Rather, it was orders from the village elders to assassinate certain members, and the entire clan tried to get in your way." Naruto looked sceptical to Itachi and the latter did not like it.

"Yes, that's exactly what happened." Itachi snapped, daring Naruto to say anything that contradicted his story. They were now in Naruto's office and the Hokage was deciding on whether or not to pardon the Uchiha.

The blond sighed. "Well I could pardon you I suppose, but it might take the village a while to warm up to the idea."

Itachi would have sweatdropped, had he possessed worse self-control. Suppose? Might? This idiot did not know already? He sighed. He just wanted to be pardoned so he could see his otouto. In fact, he did not even really care about the pardon. Naruto could shove his pardon up his-

"I want to see Sasuke now." Itachi stated in his usual indifference.

Naruto blinked. Well, that request certainly was fast. "Sasuke needs his rest. You see, the day he arrived, he...he hit his head pretty badly on a wall and now-"

"I don't care about the specifics."

"I don't think you understand, Uchiha-san," Naruto tried as he ground his teeth together. "Sasuke-"

"I understand perfectly well. I also understand that I could take care of him in that state better than a Hokage who's constantly at his job."

Naruto's mouth became a grim line on his face. "I've already taken care of that problem. Sakura-"

"Haruno? I've heard about her from Sasuke. Isn't that the girl 'Megumi' couldn't stand? Besides, I thought you were going to pardon me. Do you mean to imply to Sasuke that you still don't trust me around him?" Naruto wanted to strangle the smirk off Itachi's face. Why did this man have to be Sasuke's brother?

"Fine," he agreed grudgingly. "I'll allow you to see Sasuke...Kami knows he would love to see _you_." Naruto mumbled, but he could tell Itachi had heard because the smirk grew on the raven's handsome face. "_But_," the Kage stressed sourly, "Sakura remains his primary caregiver while I'm away."

Itachi held up his hands, his smirk growing to a point Naruto was actually worried the man's face would split apart. They both knew he was giving up this tiny battle for the bigger picture: Sasuke. "Agreed. Now, how do I get to your house?"

Naruto gave him the directions, purposely making them as confusing as humanly possible-after all, he did not like Itachi any more than the raven liked him. However, he knew that Sasuke would be much happier to see the S-ranked criminal than his childhood friend. So he finished the instructions and he watched the older man go without a fight. After Itachi was gone, Naruto silently stood and walked out of his office, going down the hall and into another room.

Sasuke would not let Naruto say goodbye, the blond knew that much. He swallowed as the woman raised her head without any surprise marring her young-looking features.

"Lady Tsunade, I'm ready for the mission to officially start."

A nod was all that marked the mission's beginning.

A/N: I hope you guys aren't too mad about how long this thing took to come out! ^_^"

Anyway, a preview should put you guys in a good mood, right?

**Preview:**

**Naruto still had not arrived in Iwa by the time night fell. He quickly set up a small camp in the forest that was virtually invisible to any man-friend or foe. He knew he could not take any chances on anyone finding him. After all, even if an enemy nin found him, he did not want to risk any of his own villagers in an effort to save their Hokage.**

**He settled down to sleep on the small, thin cot. He was unaware of the various creatures watching him, and he was particularly unaware of one pair of eyes.**

**A pair that was undeniably human.**

So there you go! So long! XD

~theflawintheplan


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